CCCWC April 2012 competition results
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52 clues entered. 49 votes cast (42 competitors, 7 others).
LIVELONG
A very close run competition for LIVELONG – but, it's that man again! Very well done to Mike Baker who has topped the pile for the second month in a row! Magnificent! This has not been achieved since Dec 2010/Jan 2011 when a certain Mike Baker won two in a row! So on top of last year's Annual Prize he is certainly the man to beat!
Very pleased to see Vinit secure another second place for this year. He has been a staunch supporter of the CCCWC for some time now and led the field for a long time this month before Mike came up on the rails – well done Vinit!
Congratulations to Peter for his 3rd place – welcome back to the podium after an absence of some time!
And well done to Dave for 4th – it is good to have him back to his consistent best now over the last 2 years with some excellent clues.
Tom completes the podium – another admirably consistent performer, well done again!
Many thanks to all for an excellent competition – all the very best for May!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Mike Baker | Enduring bad back ache | EVIL (rev) + LONG | 54.5 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | Vinit Wankhede | Complete jerk in love with heartless gal (8) | inlovegl* | 51.5 | 2 | |
| 3 | 45 | Peter Cargill | Utter last wish | Utter=entire or voice; last=live; wish=long | 46.5 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | 28 | Dave Parfitt | It's difficult to get out of bed with bad back ache | EVIL (rev.) + LONG; livelong2 = 'the orpine, a plant difficult to kill' | 40.5 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | 49 | Tom Borland | Volleying out, Murray finally lost in epic marathon? | *VOLLE(Y)ING; def. 'in epic marathon?' (in epic = poetic) | 35 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 19 | David Brown | Forever foolishly falling over? Far from it! (8) | FA (LLINGOVE) R | 30 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | 26 | Denis Borris | In snowfall, I've longjohns stretched out! (8) | direct = stretched out, container: snowfalL IVE LONGjohns | 29.5 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 41 | Shirley Curran | Poet's staying the course, hopelessly in love with heartless girl | def: Enduring = staying the course wordplay:anagram of IN LOVE + G(ir)L | 28 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | 38 | Tony Jollans | Poet's enduring love in trouble with heartless girl | Anagram (trouble) of LOVE IN with GL (heartless GirL). Def = (poetic) enduring. | 24 | 2 | |
| 10 | 6 | John McCabe | Complete reconstruction of Gonville. | Complete=definition;reconstruction of=anagrind;Gonville=anagrist | 20 | 1 | |
| 11 | 14 | Entire song's so lacking after Olivia briefly joined ELO | LIV+ELO+NG Ref: Olivia Newton John's collaboration with ELO on 'Xanadu' | 15.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 11 | 42 | Poet's tedious and protracted, revoltingly bad – try this for a change? | (revoltingly)* = (try + livelong)* | 15.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | 40 | Poet's protracted grovelling leaves Greek embarrassed | Anagram GROVELLING minus GR | 15 | 0 | ||
| 14 | 30 | Lively song, beginning without ending and ending without beginning, seems to go on forever. | LIVELy sONG | 13.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 15 | 31 | No village is about to lose a whole day? | Anagram ('is about') of 'No village' less ('to lose') 'a'. Definition 'whole day' | 13 | 0 | ||
| 16 | 17 | Fish surprisingly, love to be eaten whole (8) | Definition = whole; Wordplay = LI [ VE LO ] NG; (Fish =)LING; surprisingly love = anagram of LOVE =) VELO. In the surface reading, ling (slender marine fish used for food) love to be eaten whole. | 12 | 4 | 1 | |
| 17 | 29 | It's hard to put down cracking novel set in local situation | NOVEL* in LIG; def IT'S HARD TO PUT DOWN (i.e. the ORPINE) | 11.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 18 | 1 | Always be great | LIVE+LONG | 11 | 0 | ||
| 19 | 5 | Complete name in register not recorded initially | N in log after live (as in live broadcast) | 10 | 4 | 1 | |
| 19 | 13 | Enduring vibrant love triangles without tears. | Enduring = definition of 'livelong'. Vibrant = anagram indicator. Love triangles – tears = anagram material. | 10 | 0 | ||
| 21 | 10 | Enduring itch after burning | LIVE (burning) + LONG (itch) | 9.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 21 | 32 | No village should be without a drunk of the day | NOVILLAGE*-a | 9.5 | 1 | ||
| 21 | 34 | On reflection, the ending of "Enduring Love" is about love somehow enduring! | anag love in g nil (= love) reversed; def. ENDURING 2nd appendix of Ian McEwan novel | 9.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 24 | 2 | Bad backache is going on and on. | Evil reversed/ache = long/def. | 8.5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 24 | 16 | Falling in love — abnormal for it to be that enduring and final? | comp. anag. & lit. | 8.5 | 2 | ||
| 24 | 37 | Poet's abiding, perverted love is couched in language that spurns love | Anagram of LOVE in LING(o); 'bard' ref because LIVELONG is 'poetic' | 8.5 | 0 | ||
| 27 | 15 | Exciting look for Ulster is extended | Exciting = LIVE(NI)NG. NI (Ulster)changed to LO (look); extended = def. | 8 | 0 | ||
| 27 | 36 | Perhaps Clare's enduring Heather madly in love? Quite the reverse | Not HEATHER* in LOVE, but LOVE* in LING (= heather). (John) Clare, poet – such as might use "poetic" word "livelong". | 8 | 0 | ||
| 29 | 46 | Versifier's enduring Heather's cover of 'Tainted Love' (8) | Love (anag) in ling | 7.5 | 0 | ||
| 30 | 51 | Whole Methuselah did famously | whole = def, Methuselah did famously = live long | 7 | 1 | 3 | |
| 31 | 39 | Poet's going on and on in concert, alienating fellow poet | live + Long(fellow) | 6.5 | 0 | ||
| 32 | 33 | O Nigella! Not a cook concealing neckline that's whole | Anag. (O,NIGELLA) minus A around V (neckline) | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| 33 | 18 | For eternity orpine is a given, lol! | Anagram: given + lol | 5.5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 33 | 27 | In The Grand Guignol, evilness repulsed and was persistent. | (The Grand Guignol began as a Paris theatre noted for graphic horror entertainment.) "repulsed" = dbl meaning + def | 5.5 | 0 | ||
| 35 | 8 | Endure marathon from start to finish | Live v. + long adj. | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 35 | 43 | Succulent fresh olive stuffed with a bit of liverwurst … nourishing without filling (8) | OLIVE anagram containing (L)+NourishinG/Succulent = definition | 5 | 0 | ||
| 35 | 48 | Vivid abstruse word, 'nychthemeral' | Vivid=live, (of a word) abstruse=long, nychthemeral=def | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 38 | 7 | Complete Tour de France racer in lingerie avoids lake | Defn: Complete. VELO = TdeF racer (Chambers: = machine as well as rider) in LING = lingerie, omitting (Lake) Erie. | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 38 | 20 | Forever lovesick, Heather hides | LI(VELO)NG love* | 4 | 1 | ||
| 38 | 21 | From here to eternity | Longest possible life | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 41 | 22 | Gonville prepared for term for the whole length of the day. | Gonville anag. + def. with double meaning of "term" | 3.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 42 | 47 | Very long North Atlantic fish swallows French bike. | Definition = Very long; North Atlantic fish (LING) swallows French bike (VELO). | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| 42 | 52 | Working with parliament is perhaps lengthy and tedious | Def = "perhaps lengthy and tedious"; LIVE (working) + LONG (Long Parliament, of Cromwellian times) | 3 | 0 | ||
| 44 | 12 | Enduring novel dished out during free do | anag of novel in lig | 2.5 | 2 | ||
| 44 | 25 | I love Nigel to play around with – not, that is, "till death us do part" | Anagram of "I love Nigel" minus ie for that is | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 46 | 3 | Bewitched but unwed, divided or whole | Be(w)itch(ed) but unwed divided = be + itch = live + long – whole is direct | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 46 | 11 | Enduring novel cocktail in a party (8) | Enduring – definition, (NOVEL)* in LIG (a party) | 2 | 1 | ||
| 48 | 44 | Tedious grovelling leaves king uneasy | OVELLING* | 1.5 | 3 | 1 | |
| 49 | 24 | Having really bad back ache, can be a really tiresome time. | EVIL/LIVE = 'really bad' back……ache = long (for) | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 49 | 50 | What's Gonville represented as complete ? | *(gonville); ref: music font | 1 | 1 | ||
| 51 | 23 | Harry novel described by one girl, at length, as tedious | I(NOVEL*)G at L, anagrind:Harry, def:tedious | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 51 | 35 | Orphan John I've left inside kind of house. | Orphan John (another name for the plant LIVELONG) I've left (IVE+L) inside kind of house.(LONG): L(IVE+L)ONG | 0 | 0 |